Sic Semper Tyranus
by Duneczan
Summary: 6 months have passed since the Omega mission, where Kerrigan defeated the three major powers of this galaxy. Now, something dark looms on the horizon, and a strange group of travellers may have something to do with it.
1. Prologue

Sic Semper Tyranus

Prologue-Revision

By: Duneczan

****

KOPRULU SECTOR, NEAR THE CHAU SARA COLONY

The black of space erupted in light as a silver-green hyperspace wormhole appeared. The first vessel to appear was more than one and a half kilometers in length. The gray-green warship, a Crusader class Destroyer, had an odd looking, slightly recessed bridge section, and long blocky sections covering the dorsal area of the hull. The rest of the hull had a ribbed look to it. There were no lights coming from crew quarters, and the only light came from the eight running lights and the soft yellow glow of the engines. A second ship, another Crusader Destroyer, came out of the wormhole mere seconds later. Two more ships, Arrowhead class Assault Cruisers, emerged, both of them two kilometers in length. Both of them all black, and similarly without lighting, save for the engine glow and the running lights. Finally, two more vessels appeared, both smaller than the other ships in the group. The largest of these two was the _Corsair_, an advanced carrier, one hundred meters shy of a kilometer, with a dark gray hull and a massive bridge section. The smallest was identical to the first two warships, only half their size. It was the _Nova Fire_, a Ranger class Destroyer and this fleets flagship. These vessels were not native to the universe they have entered. They were originally from a universe far away, from the worlds of the Draconis Alliance. They have traveled through time and space, and across the multiverse, the conglomeration of universes also called parallel dimensions, to this soon-to-be worn torn sector.

The bridge of the _Nova Fire_ was divided into two sections. The upper tier contained command, tactical, and operations controls. The lower tier housed the navigation, pilot, and other miscellaneous stations. Most of the crew in these sections were pale, this having been their very first extradimensional jump. Others, veterans of wars far greater than what is to come, were hardly affected.

Standing up from his slightly raised command chair, the ships commander stood up. He appeared to be a young Human male between thirty and thirty-five years of age. He stood between six and six and a half feet tall. His dark brown hair and hazel eyes augmented a slightly child-like face. This was Major Aren Hale, an accomplished warrior and commander with years of experience beneath his belt. He was older than he appeared. His eyes met with those of his second in command. The other was a stern looking man of similar age and height, yet he had blonde hair and ice-blue eyes that could cause lesser men to crumble if enraged. This was Major Michael Powell- warrior, scholar, mystic- also a veteran of many wars, and also older than he appeared.

"So, do you think we were detected?", Aren asked his second in command.

"It depends on whether or not our quarry knows we were coming. That is rather doubtful."

"I hope so." He looked out the main view port at the sea of stars laid out before his fleet. He then looked at the crew. He saw that the jump had some negative affects on the bridge crew, but he knew that it would pass soon. He had felt the same way after this first dimension jump. Now it was almost second nature. His haze then went back to the starfield. "We're definitely in the Milky Way. Star positioning is a little off, but it looks like somewhere in the Gamma Quadrant. Ensign Thon, are there any beacons near?" The officer at the operations station looked down at his board. Ensign Thon was a member of the Krekh'Chor, one of the Draconis Alliances founding member races. The Krekh'Chor were an impressive race. They rarely grew below a height of two meters, and their bear/wolf hybrid exterior made them an imposing people.

"Yes major, the computer automatically sent out messages upon arrival", he responded. "A Tuatha beacon was the first to respond, a moment later a Chedrezak beacons did the same. We are in Milky Way Galaxy 73-401. This is the exact location the time jumper appeared in."

"And with a ship that can move through time, we don't know if it was five years ago or five minutes from now. Time travel gives me a headache." Aren rubbed his forehead as if trying to fend off a coming migraine. "Lieutenant Aaronson, order the fleet to send out scouting parties. I want a suitable location to set up base found. Have the _Corsair_ coordinate with the scouts and relay the information back to the ops section here on the _Nova Fire_. Ensign Thon, when you receive that information, I want you to put it into proper order, ranging from Gaia class planets to worlds so abysmal the Shaderach wouldn't want to touch it. Michael-" The XO stood up and headed for the bridge turbolift.

"I'm going down to the hangar to join the scouting parties." 

"-you'll go down to the hangar and join the scouting parties. The rest of you....look busy or something." The human officer named David Aaronson nodded his head in response. Ensign Thon, in a highly un-Krekh'Chor action, leaned back and relaxed until the reports came in. The young woman at the helm, Lieutenant Bekka Chase, looked back at Aren.

"And what am I supposed to do? Sit here and look pretty?"

"Well...that's what you usually do, don't you?" Aren shook his head as the brown haired woman's cheeks went red.. "Help Thon. He may need the help of women's intuition." At the back of the bridge, Ensign Thon growled. Not an angry growl, but annoyed growl. The Krekh'Chor were like that.

"And what will you be doing, oh fearless one?" Bekka asked. It was standard operation procedure aboard the _Nova Fire_ for Bekka to question Aren. They had known each other for a long time and were close friends.

"I was thinking of going down to the galley, getting myself a nice cup of coffee and a doughnut, and then heading back to my quarters to work on my memoirs."

"Ah, so you'll be going to engineering to make sure our little dimension jump didn't permanently damage our engines?" Michael said from the back of the bridge as he waited for he turbolift."

"Uh...exactly. Now, like I said, everybody get to work. Sergei, your in command." He said to the _Nova _Fire's captain, Sergei Andrenov. Another human, Sergei came from the Alliance world of Sancrist, settled long ago by descendants of Earths Russians and Germans. He had stayed quiet throughout the entire conversation, as he usually does. He was a soft spoken man who only spoke when the need arose. Aren walked over to the turbolift near the front of the bridge, the one that leads directly to the galley three decks down. As they all exited the bridge, Sergei sat back in his smaller command chair, sighed heavily, and wondered why he accepted this assignment.

Fighters began launching from the bays of the two largest capital ships. Moving by wingpairs, the one hundred and forty-four fighters chose different navigation routes and jumped out of the current system.

Hours later, things were beginning to pick up. The scouts had detected many systems in the immediate region. One of those systems was nearby, and was inhabited by humans. The world was known as Chau Sara and, from the comm traffic that was picked up and looked over, was believed to be one of many such worlds belonging to a government called the Terran Confederacy. The comm traffic also gave information on the name of the sector, called Koprulu by the Confederacy, and pirate activity, most of which came in the form of a group calling themselves the Sons of Korhal.

As the reports came in, Ensign Thon and Lieutenant Chase had come up with a system of ranking for the planets discovered. They placed each planet into one of five categories: wouldn't send my mother-in-law to it, crappy, good, splendiferous, and heaven-on-earth. Most planets fell into the crappy and good categories. Some crew members heard the muffled chuckles of Lieutenant Chase, and even a few from Ensign Thon, and thought _exactly what do they find funny about being stuck in a universe far away from our own, with no hope for support?_. Captain Andrenov, also hearing the laughter, thought of something else. _I think they found the majors stash of pixie sticks_.

Down in engineering, Major Hale looked over the general operations going on. The engines were still in proper working condition, however the dimensional shift drive was not. Major Hale looked over the blackened and charred box that was once the dimensional shift drive. The chief engineer, somewhat less qualified to work such devices than the Major, helped him look over it.

"There weren't any signs of stress or malfunctions during the test, or before and after it was used," the engineer said, somewhat nervously.

"I saw that when I got here remember? I entered engineering just as the sparks began to fly. There's no sign of tampering either....hmm....where'd we get this thing again?"

"The Tuatha gave it to us a week before we left. On the same day the other five were delivered in fact. We put them all through a battery of tests and made our modifications-"

"Modifications?"

"To better ensure that they were compatible to our reactors."

"You didn't, by any chance, take into consideration the fact that both the _Nova Fire_ and the _Corsair_ use Chakran made power sources did you?"

"Oops." Aren shook his head in exasperation. His engineer was a good man, but not qualified to work with Guardian level technology, such as these dimension shifters. It was going to be a long mission, and without proper resources, this drive, and probably the one on the _Corsair_ as well, could not be repaired. Before he could begin his tirade against the engineer, the red alert klaxon began to wail. He looked at the engineer and gave him a withering look. "You'd better be ready for a long session of yelling by the time I get back." He said this and then ran back up to the bridge. 

He ran through the dim lighted passageways. They were fairly small and cramped passageways, just over two meters tall and wide, reminiscent of the old submersibles of the 21st Century back home on Earth. After what seemed like an eternity, he arrived at the main turbolift. Once inside, he activated the command override that would take him directly to the bridge without any stops. He was surprised when it made a stop on the tenth deck. The doors opened and Michael stepped in. He was the only person, other than Captain Andrenov, who could override the command override. "Any idea of what's happening Michael?"

"Not a clue." The two entered the bridge together as the turbolift stopped. It was swarming with activity as this was also the hour of shift changes.

"Report." Aren said as he walked towards his chair.

"A wing pair from Rapier Squadron detected a large fleet of vessels appearing out of a warp rift near the world called Chau Sara," Captain Andrenov said. "At first they thought the ships belonged to the humans, but they were immediately proven wrong. The fleet began firing upon the worlds largest settlements. They also picked up this message." He toggled a switch and the bridge comm erupted in static. The static soon resolved into a cohesive voice that was distinctly human.

"_This is the Chau Sara Colonial Magistrate. We are being attacked by unknown alien forces. If any Confederate vessels are within range of our colony, please respond. I repeat, this is the-_" The transmission ended in more static.

"Sorry sir, but the pilots reported that the source of the transmission was destroyed before they could get more information."

"Where is this Chau Sara?", Michael asked.

"Only a system away sir." Aren nodded.

"Good. Bekka, set course for Chau Sara. Have the _Arrowhead_ and the _Allegiance_ form up with us. I want weapons and shields on stand-by."

"Aren-"

"Michael, the two of us are Sovereign Protectors. It is our job to protect the weak and innocent from those that would destroy them."

"I know that my friend, but we do not know who is the weak and the innocent in this situation. For all we know, the colonists on Chau Sara are the culprits of a crime against the people attacking them."

"I'm well aware of that Michael. I did not say we would go in firing, but we are going in prepared. We need to put a stop to this before something very bad happens."

"In that case, you had better tell the two cruisers to ready their remaining fighters and gunships."

"Good idea. David. relay the new orders. Bekka get us out of here, best speed." The eight warp engines on the _Nova Fire_ flared for an instant, propelling the destroyer at faster-than-light speeds. The two large Arrowhead Cruisers quickly followed suit, their three ion engines flaring in a similar fashion.

****

PROTOSS COMMAND SHIP _GANTRITHOR_, ORBITING CONFEDERATE COLONY CHAU SARA

The final barrage of anti-matter warheads struck the Terran colony. Countless humans had been sacrificed in order to stem the spread of the Zerg spores. Despite the victory, Tassadar, Executor of the Protoss fleet, was not happy. He could tell that his crew shared his unhappiness. Not even the pale blue lighting, reflected off the gold and silver plated bulkheads, could hide their looks. There was one whose face did not have such a look: the Protoss elder standing next to him. Aldaris was a tall figure, even for a Protoss. His face showed few signs of age, but the emblems on his head and clothing showed him to be of high stature in Protoss society.

"You have done well, Tassadar," Aldaris said, his voice 'correctly' synthesized by the psionic vocoder used by most Protoss. These devices, which size varies depending on the class of the Protoss wearing them, took the psi waves of the Protoss and molded them into an audible sound that resembled the wearers mental voice. The only Protoss unable to use these vocoders were the archons. They had to depend on sending out telepathic signals because their immense amount of psi overloaded the vocoders. "I was beginning to fear that your faith in the Conclave was beginning to waver."

"Indeed Aldaris?", Tassadar asked in his deep, resonant voice. "My faith in the Conclave has not changed since you came on board. I merely wonder at its orders. Annihilating the Terrans in order to wipe out the Zerg infestation is without honor. There are other ways in which it could have been done."

"The Terrans would have been wiped out even if we had not done so ourselves. The Zerg do not take prisoners, nor do they care about laws and morals and ethics. They are mindless creatures bent on destroying all life. Do not think of the razing of this world as a crime, think of it as a benevolent execution." Tassadar turned and faced the Judicator. Anger flared in his blue eyes.

"What?!"

"Executor, we do not know what the Zerg would have done to the survivors, but we do know that it would have been painful. Doing what we did ensures a quick and painless death to the Terrans, something the Zerg would not have been so kind to do." The Judicator stepped away from the fleet commander. "I am returning to my arbiter to meditate Tassadar. Complete our task here and continue on to the next colony, so that we may check for more of the infestation." Aldaris exited the bridge, leaving Tassadar to his thoughts. He motioned to his second in command, a high ranking zealot like his long-time friend Fenix.

"Continue." With that, he too stepped from the bridge. He walked to his meditation room, directly aft of the _Gantrithor_'s bridge. He sat down in a Protoss style cross-legged posture and began to focus both his thoughts and his energies. _If Aldaris has his way,_ he thought,_ I shall have to wipe out the entire Terran civilization. I did not rise through the ranks to become a murderer. I cannot let this continue..._

Then do not, a voice said, interrupting his thoughts. A presence joined him in his mind, a powerful one. _There are more things in this universe than your leaders orders. Life is the ultimate order, and it must be preserved at all costs._

Who are you?

I am many things. For now, I am a friend. My fleet arrived in this universe ten hours ago, searching for something that was lost. While we did not find what we were looking for, we did find you. Unfortunately, we were too late to stop you. The voice of the zealot he left in command brought him back to the real world.

"Executor, three ships have just been detected transitioning from hyperspace. Their weapons are powered and their shields are raised."

"Have they made any aggressive movements?"

"Not as yet Executor. They remain at a distance of 500 kilometers."

"I will be there shortly" _Only three ships against fifty?_

There are more ways to fight a war than with ships. I have no intention of attacking your fleet, as I can sense that none of you, except maybe one, likes what it is you are doing. Go to your bridge, and open a comm transmission, I would like to meet you in person. I would like to see the face of one who regrets. And invite the one that has ordered this task as well. You know of whom I speak. The presence faded. Slightly shaken, Tassadar stood and strode onto the bridge.

"I would like to speak with these newcomers," Tassadar said to the Zealot commander.

"Of course Executor. Although, you should know that they match no known ship type of the Humans or any other race we have encountered this far."

"That is what I thought. Open the channel." After a moments hesitation, the channel was open. "Greetings, I am Tassadar, Executor of the Protoss Expeditionary Force. To whom do I have the honor of speaking?" The face of a human appeared on the holographic monitor. Tassadar stepped forward to get a closer look. He was definitely human, he had the same features of those that inhabited the world beneath his ships. Yet there was something distinctly different about him.

"I am Major Aren Hale of the Draconis Alliance armed forces. Two of my fighters, which were in this system earlier, detected a distress signal coming from this world. As our bi-laws dictate that our duty is to protect those in danger, I felt it was my obligation to come here and investigate. And I know it was not you who sent the message, as none of your ships are damaged, and the message itself was sent by humans."

"Indeed it was. Perhaps you would like to join me on my vessel, so that we may discuss this face-to-face." The human nodded. His eyes betrayed a little bit of amusement, but otherwise his face remained stoic. "Very well. Join me at your earliest convenience." The hologram faded and Tassadar turned to a senior Khalai technician. Unlike most Protoss that served aboard the fleet ships, the Khalai prefer to wear dark blue, loose-fitting robes, adorned with the colors of their tribe. They will don the power suits of the zealots, power suits created by the Khalai's own Furinax Tribe, when the time for science is ended and the time for battle has come. "Aldaris has yet to leave the ship, that much I know. Ask him that I would speak with him in my meditation room."

"By your command, Executor." The technician bowed and quickly left the bridge, her robes swishing as she went.

Later, in Tassadars meditation room, Aldaris fumed at the Executor.

"Do you realize what you are doing by inviting this human here? You are jeopardizing your career and this mission!"

"There is more to this than you realize Aldaris. Something is...odd about these humans, especially their commander." Tassadars blue eyes followed the Judicator as he paced. A pace reminiscent of a predator. _Is he hunting me? Or those humans?_

"Indeed there is," a new voice chimed in. Both Protoss turned to face the speaker, only to find two men standing there. Both were similarly dressed in black combat fatigues. They wore no sidearm, nor did they have insignia of any kind. One had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. The other was taller, with blond hair and ice-blue. The brown haired man bowed. "Greetings Executor, I am Major Aren Hale. This is my second, Major Michael Powell." Major Powell bowed.

"Greetings to you major. How did you get aboard? I do not remember being told that your shuttle had docked."

"We did not use a shuttle."

"What did you use?"

"We just thought of ourselves standing in the same room as you, and so here we are. It is merely a form of teleportation."

"You can move from one place to another at will, without the help of any technology?"

"Yes. But it does not matter how we got here, just that we are here-"

"And disregarding all rules of social etiquette in the process!" Aldaris growled loudly, his vocoder almost breaking at the vehemence."

"This from someone who just obliterated and entire planet of people? Who are you?" 

"This is Judicator Aldaris, advisor to this expedition," Tassadar answered.

"A politician?" Major Powell asked.

"I serve as the liaison between the Executor and our Conclave," Aldaris answered.

"Which is bureaucratese for 'I am a politician'." Major Hale gave his second a look.

"Michael, there is no need to be rude. At least not yet." He turned to Aldaris. "You must forgive him Judicator. Michael has no love for politics or politicians. He believes they take all the fun out of life." This seemed to anger the Judicator more than he already was. Although he had no facials marks other than his orange eyes, a skilled person could tell he was seething.

"Why are you here, human?", he asked.

"Straight and to the point, excellent. I am here because of a distress call that originated from the planet you are now orbiting. One of our fighter wings noticed you blasting it back into the Stone Age, so we thought we would try and put a stop to it. Since we failed to do so, I want to know why you bombarded the planet."

"Our reasons are our own, human. We need not explain them to you."

"Judicator, you are overstepping your bounds," Tassadar said. "This is a military matter, and is out of your control. Major Hale, there is a force coming to this sector...no, the force is already here. This force, which calls itself Zerg, is unlike anything we have seen before. They send out spores to alien worlds, seeking out life that they can consume, assimilate and eradicate. It spreads its infestation at an alarming rate, and it is now poised to destroy the human colonies in this sector. The world below us was covered with a thick ooze-like substance that these Zerg feed off of, and it has saturated much of the planet. What humans were left were either dying or infested. Our only recourse, no matter how sorrowful, was to raze the planet." Aldaris came forward and began to speak.

"We have recently learned that the Zerg infestation has spread to other worlds in the Terran realm. Our Conclave has ordered immediate actions. We are now going to these worlds to destroy the Zerg." Tassadar spun on Aldaris, his glowing eyes wide with surprise and fury. He had not heard of these orders.

"What?! What of humanity?"

"The threat of the Zerg must end before it spreads to a point where it can no longer be contained. That is a point that the Zerg are rapidly approaching. If stopping the Zerg means that the human race must be sacrificed, then so be it." Major Hale stared at Aldaris, his fury barely contained. Tassadar thought he saw the mans eyes crackled with energy.

"What you are suggesting is wholesale slaughter! This is akin to dropping a fusion bomb into the heart of a city to kill a single person!" Despite his apparent anger, Major Hale kept his voice calm and under control.

"It does not matter what you think, Human. The Protoss do not answer to inferior beings.", Aldaris answered. Tassadar could see the major loosing control. He also saw that Major Hale's second looked worried.

"You fool. You foolish, pathetic, little creature. You consider your race superior and noble, Aldaris? What you are considering is genocide. How noble is that? What if your plans do not work Judicator? What if these Zerg discover your people? How superior will you be when your race is nearly extinct because of them?"

"Do not begin to threaten us, Human. These Zerg are no match for our people. You have no right to question the will of a race that has existed longer than-"

"_SILENCE JUDICATOR_!" Commanded a deep voice, reminiscent of the Protoss themselves. Yet it was not a Protoss who spoke, it was Major Hale. Only now his eyes glowed a deep crimson and a faint aura of blue light seemed to surround him. With a motion of Arens hand, Aldaris flew into the bulkhead. "_For a thousand years I have served the light, and never once has someone angered me as greatly as you. Your confidence in your technology will be your undoing, this is a fact that cannot be changed. You will learn humility, Judicator, at the hands of your equal and opposite._" The glow in Aldaris' eyes faded as he slipped into unconsciousness. The same seemed to happen to Major Hale, as he slipped back into a chair. Tassadar had a blank look on his already featureless face.

"Who...What, are you?" Tassadar asked.

"I told you before that I am many things," Aren answered weakly. The human looked very pale. "This has drained me more than I had expected. This Judicator of yours is quite infuriating. Do you plan on going through with this plan of the Conclaves?"

"I must, because I am a Templar. And a Templars duty is to his people."

"Your duty, Executor, is to preserve life, not take it away. The Zerg are a great threat, that much I can see. Yet even the greatest of threats can be handled without resorting to genocide. The Terrans are not the enemies of the Protoss, Executor, you know that. Who know, perhaps the salvation of the Protoss race can be found with the Terrans now."

"How can I go against the will of the Conclave?"

"You can because you know they are wrong. These orders cannot be justified. Do what you know is right." Tassadar nodded.

"I will think on what you have said." He looked over at the prone form of Aldaris. "When he awakes, he will contact the Conclave and tell them what happened here."

"No he won't," Michael said. "When we leave, none but you will remember ever seeing us. You will, because that is how we wish it. Executor, as Aren informed you during your meditation, we came here searching for someone. We do not know how long this mission will take, so we would like your help finding a world for us to stay on until it is over."

"I believe I can help you. I know a commander who believes as I do, and he will be able to aid you in your search for a world. Tell me where to have him meet you."

"It's not very far, just a system away. Our ships will be cloaked and invisible to your sensors, so tell this commander not to be surprised if we just appear out of nowhere."

Michael bowed and helped his friend and commander up. His little show had drained Aren of almost all his energy. The two of them disappeared as mysteriously as they had appeared.

As the three Draconis Alliance vessels jumped into hyperspace, a wave of energy passed over the Protoss fleet. It erased their memories of the past half hour, and even removed Aldaris from Tassadar's quarters. All but one was affected, and as Tassadar looked out the view ports to the planet below, he did as he promised. He thought about what the two men had said. Even as the fleet left Chau Sara's orbit and headed towards the world of Mar Sara, Tassadar was still deep in thought.

****

AUIR, PROTOSS HOMEWORLD, FOUR MONTHS LATER

The _Gantrithor_ moved through the planets atmosphere on its final mission. As the Zerg swarmed around it, trying to put an end to its suicidal drive, Tassadar sat on the bridge and looked out at the massive shape of the Overmind growing before him.

Tassadar began to gather the psionic energies of the Templar and the entropic energies of his brethren, the Dark Templar. The energies began swirling about him, focusing their power on one source. As he did this, he felt a presence, a presence he had felt before.

_So you are with me even now._

Yes.

Do you wish to stop me?

No.

Then there is not much else to say.

No, only this. Go with the light, my friend. The presence gave a mental bow, and faded from Tassadar's mind. The Protoss Executor looked upon the Overmind and closed his eyes, sending out a single thought to the malevolent creature.

_You have brought death to many dozens of worlds. You have slaughtered countless millions in your reckless attempt at perfection. You are as you say your are, purity in form. You are pure evil. With one thrust I send you back to the place from whence you came. From hells heart, I stabbeth thee._

At this, Tassadar stood and released his power is a massive shockwave of light and energy. The psionic energies passed through the hull of the carrier, shattering it and absorbing it, becoming more powerful in the process. Together, Tassadar and his beloved ship formed a powerful weapon. A weapon that struck the Overmind and exploded. The energy vaporized the lesser Zerg surrounding the Overmind. In a twister of energy and light, the last remnants of Tassadar, the _Gantrithor_, and the Overmind swirled into oblivion.

And all was quiet.

In orbit, a lone ship sat cloaked, overlooking the battle. The crew of the _Nova Fire_ watched the final, climactic battle. Some wept, some stood stone faced. Other just looked on and nodded slowly. On the bridge Aren Hale sat and watched a magnified view of the Overminds death.

"It is done then."

"No Michael, its far from over."

"Another premonition?"

"No, just the predicting inevitable. I sensed something Michael. I sensed what we came here for. It was here, following the fight as closely as we were, only it was rooting for the Zerg. No, it's very, very far from over."


	2. Raynor's Raiders

Sic Semper Tyranus

Chapter 1: Raynor's Raiders

By: Duneczan

****

PLANET SERAJEN, UMOJAN PROTECTORATE, KOPRULU SECTOR, TWO YEARS LATER

Jim Raynor looked out at the land before him and took it in. _If war is hell_, he thought, _then this must be the Devils playground._ What he saw was a land of death. The battlefield was covered in blood, Terran and Zerg. Tanks lay burning and in shambles, men in power armor crawl on the ground, some missing arms, others missing legs and some are worse. Medics run around, gathering the wounded and swiftly carrying them off to makeshift triage centers. He looked down at his own armor. It was covered in the blood of countless Zerg. He looked at the battlefield and sighed heavily. _It is far from over._ He looked up at the cloud-covered sky and sighed again.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Jim turned to see his second in command standing there, his armor also covered in gore. Nathaniel P. Calhoun, one time Colonial Magistrate of Mar Sara and current rebel leader, was a middle-aged man of forty-five. A helmet covered his graying hair, and his brown eyes showed the signs of old age. Jim shook his head. _If it weren't for the Zerg, we'd both be home right now, sitting down and eating dinner without a care in the world. The Zerg have a lot to pay for._

"What is it Nathan?"

"More bad news I'm afraid. ComSat's just picked up another wave of Zerg heading our way, and it looks like they pulled out the big guns for this one. Ultralisks and Lurkers are in this one, accompanied by dozens of Hydralisks and countless Zerglings."

"What about air support, theirs and ours?"

"No Mutalisks or Guardians in this one. And our air support consists of them." He pointed behind Jim. Turning, the rebel leader saw a pair of Wraiths decloaking and coming in for repairs. Four SCV's rushed towards them, preparing to patch any and all damaged areas.

"Perfect. What about the fleet?"

"Still bogged down by Zerg forces. Fortunately no Scourge have been sighted, but the Devourers and Mutalisks are bad enough. The _Hyperion_ and its escorts are being overwhelmed."

"Oh that's even more perfect. What about the Umojans?"

"They said they'd contact a friend of theirs. They didn't say much more than that."

"Wonderful." Jim's suit comm pinged, and then a mechanical, female voice emerged.

"Our forces are under attack." Cursing, Jim swung around to look at the channel the Zerg had been using for their assault. Sure enough, there was a telltale dust cloud. The Zerglings had arrived to soften his troops up for the big boys.

"This is it Nathan. This is the end. Do or die, it was a pleasure working with you." He picked up his gauss rifle and popped in another clip. The former magistrate saluted him.

"And it's been a pleasure serving with you." Nathan did the same. As they ran towards the defensive line, it began to rain, and rain hard. They could feel it pelting their modified armor, and it was splashing against their faceplates, almost blinding them. Then, suddenly, a loud thunderclap spread through the air. At least they thought it was a thunderclap. Soon another one struck, then another, and another. The two commanders stopped and stared. It was not thunder; it was the sound of orbital bombardment. Someone was pounding the Zerg forces. Brilliant yellow bolts of energy struck the Zerg at their heart, obliterating Ultralisks and completely vaporizing the lesser strains. Soon blue energy bolts joined the yellow, and more death rained down upon the Zerg. Then they saw it.

Dropping from the clouds was a large gray-green shape. After serving on capital ships so long, Jim could tell it was smaller than a Behemoth class Battlecruiser, but it appeared far better armed. It also was slightly familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen one before. Several more salvos struck the planet, and with pinpoint accuracy destroyed the entire Zerg assault force. After dealing a killing blow to the Zerg, the warship just floated there above the battlefield, rain evaporating as it struck the ships energy shields. There it sat unmoving for many long minutes. Then, finally, the vessel's shields disappeared, and a portion of the ship's underside opened up. The vessel itself moved lower to the ground, until it was only a few dozen meters above the ground. Two large combat walkers dropped to the ground, followed closely by four tanks. The back of the tanks fell open and troops came running out. Two tanks were filled with soldiers in power armor; the other two contained large battleoids piloted by soldiers. There were thirty-two soldiers and eight battleoids total. Hesitating slightly, Jim and Nathan walked up to them. Seeing them, the leader of these new troops saluted.

"Captain Raynor, my name is Colonel Nicols. It is an honor to meet you," came a female voice. Jim returned the salute a bit awkwardly.

"Who are you?"

"Friends, captain friends. The Umojans told us that you were in danger, so we rushed right over."

"But-?"

"Not time to talk captain, we're here to finish what the destroyer started. Our commander should be down here any second." She turned to her troops and yelled at them in a commanding tone. "Come on you apes; we got a job to do. First and Third Sections, you go with Captain Jacobs. Second and Fourth, you're with me. Let's move out!" The colonel and her troops left both Jim and Nathan with bewildered looks on their faces. A loud noise woke them from their reverie. Floating down to them was a small platform, with a single figure standing on it. He was young, with brown hair. Jim knew he had seen the mans face before. This all seemed familiar to him, but he still could not put it all together. The platform finally touched down, and the man stepped off.

"Greetings Captain Raynor, I am Major Aren Hale. I hope I find you well?"

"Uh..."

"Good! Now, if you two would like to join me on my ship, we can go finish off the Zerg hive that's been bothering you."

"Uh..." Jim was trying hard to get his mouth and mind to work in unison. Nathan clipped him on the shoulder, which seems to do the trick. "...Sure. Only I'm going to have my second here stay behind and take care of my men." The man behind him was shocked, but held hid tongue.

"Of course." Jim turned to Nathan.

"Nate, go back and see to the troops."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. I swear I've heard this guy's name before, but I won't be able to remember if I'm distracted. With you here to take charge, I won't be distracted."

"Alright, but-"

"Nate, please?" The XO sighed and shook his head. Taking one last, worried look at the destroyer looming overhead, he turned and ran back to the troops. Aren Hale gestured for Jim to follow him, which he did. Soon enough, the small platform began floating back into the destroyer. Jim was led through a very crowded landing bay, through a long stretch of confusing corridors and other passageways, and finally to the two-tiered bridge. Standing there next to the command chair was another man that seemed familiar to him. _Dammit, where have I seen these guys before? Argh, this is going to annoy me for the rest of the day..._ Aren took his seat on the bridge, and pointed Jim to a seat next to him. The rebel leader sat down and watched the newcomer.

"Helm, set course for the hive cluster."

"Yes sir. Heading towards the land of purple goo and nasty looking buildings that bleed," the helmsman, a pretty young woman with light brown hair, said, with a pleased sound in her voice. Jim looked over at Aren, who had put his head in his left hand and was shaking it back and forth, a slightly exasperated look on his face.

Several minutes later, the Zerg hive came into view. It was a vast base, covered in spore colonies and surrounded by a wall of Devourers, Mutalisks, and Scourge. Aren stood up and strode across the bridge. He looked out at the Zerg base, and he seemed angry. Jim joined him and looked at the Zerg hive cluster. For once, oddly enough, he did not feel the fear that accompanied one that looked upon such a large base. Aren then gave his orders.

"All stop. Guns, I want a firing solution on the defenses. I want them gone." Voices came from the crew pit below, acknowledging his orders. Soon after, the destroyer began firing on the Zerg base. The oncoming Zerg air force was the first to be attacked. Torpedoes, missiles, and energy weapons intercepted the air force. While Mutalisks and Devourers got off shots before being killed, they did not seem to have any effect. Only when the Scourge impacted against the ship's shields did the vessel rock slightly.

The offensive did not last long. The Zerg fell before the destroyer, and soon the spore colonies fell victim to its power as well. Yet, after those colonies were destroyed, the ship stopped firing and pulled back. Jim looked at the ship's commander with a questioning gaze. As if sensing the look, Aren turned.

"Destroying a base of this size would take time. Time we do not have. So I have put into motion a plan to level the base in one single shot. Here it comes." Jim looked out the viewport. Streaking down through the atmosphere was a small craft, slightly larger than a dropship. It flew over the Zerg base. Jim thought he saw something drop from the craft's underbelly. Suddenly there was a flash of near-blinding light, but the viewport went opaque to reduce the light's intensity. After a minute, the light faded. Jim looked out the viewport and gasped. The Zerg base was entirely gone. There were no remains, no creep, nothing was left.

"Wha...wha..."

"Neutron bomb. It completely vaporizes all biological life, leaving inorganic material left intact. Not exactly a nice weapon, but it works well against the Zerg." There was a coldness in the majors' voice as he spoke. "I dislike using weapons like that, but there are times when it must be done."

"I see," Jim said. "You said that we have little time. Why?"

"I assume you noticed the markings of the Zerg that were attacking you?"

"Yeah, their carapaces had a slight purple hue to them. Jormungand Brood. Kerrigan's brood. I guess I thought that, even after all the evil she has done, she would never come after me."

"I don't think she did."

"What?"

"There is more to this whole situation than you realize Captain Raynor. You are a wanted man, hunted by the Dominion, the Zerg, and even renegade Protoss. The Umojan Protectorate is no longer safe for you."

"And where would me and my boys be safe? With you?"

"No, you would merely be safer. Come with me back to my base and I'll show you around. If you like it, you can stay. If not, you still will have to leave here."

"Yeah, I know." He thought hard for a second, then made his decision. "Alright, I'll come with you."

"Good. My ships will remain here to help your second in command with the evacuation."

"Speaking of my second in command, I'd better contact him and tell him where I'm going. He may think you've kidnapped me."

"Sure thing. You can call him in my office. This way please." Aren led Jim to a doorway, which swished open. Jim made his call to Nathan and, while the former magistrate was a little angry at the idea, he finally consented. Within minutes Aren was leading Jim back down to the landing bay.

"We're not taking your ship?"

"No, it'll remain here. We're taking my personal ship." Aren pointed to a large, metallic blue-gray ship sitting in a clear area. Slightly larger than a dropship, the vessel seemed lightly armed. However, Jim decided that, with these people, looks can be deceiving. "This is the _Challenger_, designed and built by myself."

"Armed?"

"Very much so. I dare say that it could take on one of your battlecruisers, provided it doesn't have a Yamato cannon."

"Really?"

"Yes. Alright, enough chitchat, let's get moving. I make the engineers and technicians antsy when I spend too much time here." He chuckled at this and continued walking towards the craft. Jim followed close behind, taking in what he saw. Jim rethought his original description of the landing bay. He decided that it was not crowded, but chaotic. There seemed to be too little room for the landing craft, shuttles, and the _Challenger_, which dwarfed everything but the large blocky ship he could only describe as a dropship. Mechanics ran across the brightly-lit room, yelling to their comrades for parts, assistance, and even just idle talk. It was definitely not like any military ship he had ever been on, including the Dominions former flagship, the _Norad II_. And most definitely like the strict Protoss warships, like the _Gantrithor_. Then it hit him, he now remembered where he had seen these people.

"Tassadar!" Aren turned just as he reached the boarding ramp of his transport.

"Excuse me?"

"I've been wracking my brain trying to remember where I had seen you people before and then I suddenly remembered. Tassadar once sent images to my mind, and he told me that if I ever ran across you guys, that I could trust you."

"Ah, I was wondering if he had told you about us. So, Executor Tassadar had that much faith in us did he? Too bad I did not get to know him better, he was such a noble warrior. When he sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind, I felt an emptiness ripple through the astral plane. Even though I saw his death with my own eyes, I still could not believe it."

"You...were there?"

"Yes. We arrived too late to help, as I had not felt something very malevolent nearby." Aren stopped talking and walked up the ramp. Jim quickly followed, not wanting to stop talking about these past events. As the ramp came up behind him, he continued his probing.

"What malevolence? Was it the same thing that brought you here in the first place?"

"He told you about that too, I see. Yes, it did have to deal with our temporal fugitive. Unfortunately, what I sensed was a lure, a fake signal meant to keep me away from Aiur. It knew that Tassadar would have been a great asset in our search."

"'It'? You don't know who or what it is?"

"No, we do not. Three beings somehow escaped a hellish realm called Shagga. They stole three timeships, and each headed for a different place in reality. We tracked one ship here, but we have no clue as to who was in it. Not that it matters, because each fugitive is equally dangerous in their own way."

"I see. So, you think that this...thing may have something to do with people wanting my head on a pike?"

"Yes. You are yet another asset we can tap, and the fact that you have survived so long is a testament to Human survivability."

"Does it tell you anything about the thing hunting me?"

"No, all three fugitives are human, or were. They'd applaud your resourcefulness and try to make it harder for you to survive."

"They sound like such nice people."

"Heh. We're dawdling again. Come on." He led Jim up two flights of steps and into the fairly spacious cockpit. The rebel leader was surprised to see three levels on the _Challenger_. Despite its size, it is still a relatively small craft.

"Exactly how do you fit everything into this ship?"

"Technological miniaturization. Four of the six ships in my fleet are, technologically, on par with the Protoss. The _Nova Fire_, the ship you are on now, and the _Corsair_, and cruiser-carrier, are many times more advanced than the rest of the fleet."

"And your _Challenger_?"

"Many times more advanced than the _Nova Fire_ and the _Corsair_. You are a very inquisitive person, you know that?"

"Any race that can wipe out an advanced Zerg hive cluster with one bomb deserves to be questioned many times over. Now, where is this base of yours?"

"On a planet you've probably never heard of. It's called Antaer, an old Protoss colony abandoned at about the same time Braxis was. It is deep within Protoss territory, about two hundred lightyears from here." Jim's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull.

"How the hell..."

"I could give you the technobabble answer, but to save you from a big headache, I'll just say my ships are really fast. At its slowest speed, the destroyer _Manticore_ could get here in a little over an hour. See, fast." Jim was speechless. He wondered exactly why all these powerful people would ever want to talk to him, a lowly former Colonial Marshal from a backwater world.

_Perhaps, my friend, there is more to you than you realize_, came Aren's voice, only in his mind and not spoken word. He turned to see Aren looking at him. "Never underestimate yourself, not even in the slightest. I was once like you, a lowly little kid from Earth with nothing special about him. Now here I am, an immortal warrior fighting the forces of evil and injustice for all eternity."

The _Challenger_ lifted off from the deck and slowly made its way towards the gaping hole in the bottom of the warship. It easily slid out of the opening and moved across the landscape at a leisurely pace until it was a few hundred meters from the destroyer. Then Aren charged the engines to full power and they rocketed towards the atmosphere and space. The transports powerful engines propelled the ship at such speeds that they reach space in a matter of seconds. Knowing that Jim would want to see the damage inflicted on his fleet, Aren slowed the craft down and moved towards the gathered forces.

Floating in space were countless Zerg body parts, with frozen blood and corrosive acids just hovering there, waiting to be pulled into Serajen's atmosphere. And there was the _Hyperion_ and the five other battlecruisers in Raynor's fleet, along with a few stolen Valkyrie class Frigates and four Wraith Carriers. And then there were the five ships than Jim knew belonged to Major Hale. Two were larger versions of the _Nova Fire_, the other two were long, sleek looking winged cruisers. The final ship, he guessed, had to be the _Corsair_. None of those five ships seemed battle scarred.

"I have another question Aren. How dangerous are the Zerg to your forces?"

"For my ground forces, they are slightly less as dangerous as they are to yours, but they can still be a tough opponent. As for their space and air force, they are not much of a threat. As long as our shields are up and at full power, the only Zerg weapon capable of harming one of my ships is a Scourge. Those blasted little buggers wreak havoc when they explode. The acidic weapons of the Mutalisks and the Devourers are no match for our shields, but our armor isn't as acid resistant as we'd like it to be. It's a good thing the Zerg haven't devised a more powerful Hydralisk. Those needle spines could do some serious damage to a starship if they were powerful enough to penetrate heavy armor."

The _Challenger_ pulled away from the ships and headed back towards open space. A silver-green vortex appeared in front of the transport and swallowed the vessel whole. Jim looked at the spiraling corridor that matched the vortex in color.

"A very pretty sight."

"Indeed. Welcome to slipstream Jim Raynor, there's no other way to fly."


	3. Myths and Legends

Sic Semper Tyranus

Chapter 2: Myths and Legends

By: Duneczan

****

PLANTER ANTAER, PROTOSS SPACE

"Antaer, a blue-green marble deep within Protoss territory, was once a major research colony. However, something happened there that caused the Khalai inhabiting the world to flee back to Aiur. What happened, we don't know yet," Aren said to his companion. Jim Raynor, sitting a little uncomfortably in his power armor, listened intently. "When my fleet arrived here two years ago, my XO asked Tassadar if he could help us located a world we could use as a base. Tassadar contacted an ally of his, a praetor by the name of Mojo."

"Yeah, I met him once. During the assault on the Overmind, he and Tom Kazansky, a renegade Dominion colonel, led a strike against a Cerebrate whose brood could have caused some serious trouble to Tassadar, Zeratul, and myself."

"Indeed. Mojo led us here, and said that this world was, long ago, abandoned by the Protoss, and the Conclave vowed never to return to it."

"The Protoss Conclave vowing something and sticking to it? Odd."

"That it was. So, upon setting up our base, I had a group of scientist's start working on cracking the planet's secrets."

"What have they found?"

"I have absolutely no clue. I've received a few reports now and then, but nothing substantial has really crossed my desk. I told them to tell me if they found anything important. That means that one, they haven't found anything important, or two, they have found something that _I_ would find important, but they don't think it is. While we're here, I may as well find out." He stopped talking and looked over at Jim, and then immediately grimaced. "I knew I forgot something."

"What?"

"You're still wearing bloody, battle-scarred armor." Jim looked down and laughed.

"Heh...I guess I kinda forgot too."

"Here's what we'll do. We still have fifteen minutes so, go down to the bottom deck. All the way in back is a cargo hold. There should be a crate or two labeled 'BDU's'. Find one that fits you and change into it. Meanwhile, I'm going to get some solvent and clean the upholstery."

"You can't be serious."

"Deadly serious. I'm a stickler when it comes to keeping this ship clean. Now get moving." Jim stood up and clomped out of the cockpit. Aren also stood and bent down next to a small hidden cabinet. Opening it, he looked over the various bottles and canisters inside. "Now, which one gets Zerg blood out the best, ammonia or hydrochloric acid?" This he mused to himself.

Fifteen minutes later, the _Challenger_ was speeding towards the planet. Jim watched as the transport shot into the atmosphere at speeds he wished his ships could go. He watched as clouds and native birds zipped by. He also saw the water below quickly approaching.

"Uh...not to be a spoilsport or anything, but shouldn't we be pulling up?"

"We will, but I've rarely been able to enjoy flying lately. So don't mind my dare devilishness." Just as the transport was a mere ten meters from hitting the water, Aren pulled up hard on the controls. The _Challenger_ was now only two meters above the water, and skimming across it fast. A massive wake followed the craft as it flew over the surface. Land appeared on the horizon. It was a cliff.

"Uh..."

"Oh don't worry. I see the cliff." Aren pulled up on the controls again and the ship lifted above the cliff and the trees beyond. Jim looked out the viewport and saw that the trees were fairly close to the ship. After five minutes of flying over trees, a plain appeared. It was vast and grassy, with rhino-like creatures strolling along in herds. Aren had slowed his ship as to not disturb them.

"Exactly where are we going?"

"My base. It's about fifty klicks from here, situated in a barren valley."

"You built a base in a valley? Isn't that a little tactically unsound?"

"To paraphrase Tsun Tzu's _Art of War_, 'he who holds the high ground has the advantage'. To paraphrase my boss, 'he who controls the high and low ground, and has mines and other defenses coming out the rear not only has the advantage, but planned ahead.'"

"That's a mouthful."

"That it is. Trust me, the valley is well protected. We've turtled so much that only BDZing the planet would take out the base."

"Ah yes, Base Delta Zero. When you absolutely have to win, bomb them back into the Stone Age. It's not exactly something I'd like to order my troops to do."

"Me neither. In my thousand years, I've yet to order a planet destroyed. Create one, yes, but destroy, no. Ah, here it is." The grassy plain abruptly came to an end, and became a barren desert tundra. There was a long stretch of tall hills surrounding a valley. At the end of the valley was a huge circular basin, surrounded by hills the size of small mountains.

"This doesn't look natural."

"It isn't. Mojo said that, while the Conclave did not say what had happened here, some of the survivors did talk. This entire area was once green, like those plains back there, but something went horribly wrong. A catastrophic explosion rippled across the valley, vaporizing all flora and fauna. When the smoke cleared, this is what was left."

"Ouch. How many died?"

"None surprisingly. The survivors said that this valley had been looked over several dozen times before the explosion, and nothing was here."

"Odd that."

"Yes. So, not only have we spent the past two years looking for our time fugitive, but we've also been searching for answers." The base was coming into view. Defense towers riddled the landscape, with bunkers placed at even intervals. There were dozens of tanks, walkers, and combat speeders roaming the large encampment. At the center was a massive structure, almost the same size as the _Nova Fire_. All in all, the base seemed to take up an area of at least a square kilometer, with plenty of room to spare. Aren piloted his transport towards the main building and landed on a raised platform adjacent to it. The gangplank lowered, steam and shipboard atmosphere mingling with the air. The two of them exited. Jim looked over at the facility towering over him.

"What _is_ that thing?"

"A star garrison. We're not exactly out of touch with our home you know. They send us supplies and other materiál needed for our support. This garrison is where we house the communications equipment, logistical support, and other various and sundry things we need. Within the hills and mountainside are our barracks and machine shops. We had to have some mining equipment sent to us in order to enlarge the tunnels."

"Impressive. As are your defenses."

"Thank you. We did some calculations and discovered a surprising fact."

"Which was?"

"With the defenses we've set up in the base itself, coupled with the automated defense positions hidden in the valley and hillsides and the vast minefield at the entrance of the valley, it would take a force of around a million Zerg, or a hundred thousand Terran troops or ten thousand Protoss troops, to take this base. This number does not take into account heavier units such as Ultralisks, Reavers, and Arclites."

"Still that number is staggering."

"Yeah, I guess we went a little overboard on the defenses. As I like to say though, it's better to overestimate your enemy than underestimate them." Aren clapped his hands. "So, onto the tour. Where would you like to go first? The garrison or the mountain?"

"I think I'd get lost in the garrison, so we'll go to the mountain."

"Are you sure? The garrison has a great bar. It also has a rec room, a game room, and I think a pool." Jim looked at the major with an expression that said _what the hell kind of outfit are you running here?_

"Uh...yeah, I'm sure I don't want to see the garrison. Maybe later."

"Suit yourself." Aren turned and pointed to a cave opening half a kilometer away. "There's our destination. Here's our ride. Corporal!" A wheeled cargo truck that had been driving passed suddenly stopped. The soldier, a woman with blonde hair and wearing the insignia of a combat engineer, turned in her seat and looked down. She quickly saluted.

"Major!"

"Stop with the saluting corporal. Are you driving this thing to the mountain?"

"Yes sir. We're still loading up dirt and moving it out of the base."

"Mind if we tag along?"

"Of course not sir." She turned back around and pulled a lever. A ramp slammed to the ground and the two commanders climbed on. Making sure they were sitting tight, the corporal pulled the lever again, raising the ramp. Stepping on the pedal, she drove the truck towards the mountain. "Where'd you like me to drop you off at sir?"

"Just at the entrance corporal. I wanted to save my friend here a walk."

"Fine by me sir. It's not everyday you get to chauffer the boss around." She giggled as she said this, a very unsoldierly thing. Jim shook his head.

"I know people who could learn a lot from you major."

"How so?"

"You're people seem very disciplined, yet also very relaxed. It's almost like they like their jobs." Before Aren could answer, the corporal spoke up.

"We do like our jobs, Captain Raynor. Major Hale isn't like other commanders. He often goes against his orders to make sure his people are safe. We trust him with our lives, and many of us would die willingly for him."

"And that is not something I expect you to do corporal. I much prefer my people staying alive" Aren said.

"I'll remember that at our next 'Sacrificial Lamb' meeting." She said, looking back and winking at the two. She took her foot off the pedal and the truck came to a stop. She pulled the lever that dropped the ramp and pointed. "Here we are. I hope you enjoyed Combat Engineer Tours please pay the hostess on your way out." Once they had exited the truck, she drove off. They could hear her begin to sing a song as she went away. Aren began walking into the cave, with Jim following him closely, so as to not get lost.

"An odd woman."

"That she is. She's native to a world called Sancrist, one of the founding world of the Terran Hegemony, which itself was a founding member of the Draconis Alliance. The Humans of Sancrist are a jovial people, just don't piss them off. You're liable to lose a finger...or worse."

"Ah. Wait...she knew my name. How, or do all your people know who I am?"

"Oh Heavens yes. My people know who all the major players in this sector of space are, and what they look like."

"Does that include Dark Templar?"

"When we can find one, yes." They had reached a blast door, and a thick one by the looks of it. It appeared to be unguarded, but Jim didn't believe it actually was unguarded. Aren went to the door pad and entered a code. The blast doors slowly slid open, revealing a dark room. "In here is something you will like." Aren pressed a button on the pad and the lights came on. The room was huge. Inside were black containers, as tall as a Goliath walker and twice as wide. Jim couldn't even begin to count how many of these containers were in this place.

"What's in the containers?"

"You know those crystals you people mine?"

"Yeah...You mean these are filled with minerals!?"

"Yup. We have somewhere around fifteen thousand tons stored here. Each container actually holds more than you think, because we have certain...devices that increase the amount of cargo that can be held, without increasing the size of the container." Aren looked at Jim and stifled a laugh. The Terran commander was staring at them, slack-jawed and with bulging eyes. "Ahem...Jim, it's not like I have nude pictures of pre-Zerg Kerrigan in here. So, do you mind pulling your mouth shut and sticking your eyeballs back into your head?"

"Err...sorry. Lost my head there for a bit."

"No problem. Seeing this stuff does that to people. Although the Protoss can do this too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Technologically, the Protoss and the Draconis Alliance are on par with each other. They just haven't needed to show their really neat tech until just recently."

"When the Zerg appeared."

"Yep. Nothing motivates people more than having your entire civilization swept out from under you. With the loss of most of their colonies, the Protoss are in a rut. These containers are going to be shipped to Shakuras soon." Aren turned away and walked out of the chamber. Once Jim had done the same, Aren shut the door. He pointed down the cave tunnel. "Down there is another chamber. While the one here is filled with mineral containers, the one there is filled with vespene containers."

"Wow. The Protoss should be able to get back on their feet with all this."

"I hope so. The loss of Tassadar, the Conclave, Razhagal, and even Aldaris as affected them heavily. And with Zeratul MIA, that leaves Artanis with all the work and little help. Things are not going well for them."

"Yeah, I feel sorry for them, although I can relate on a certain level. They lost their home, I lost mine. The Zerg have a lot to pay for."

"That they do, and I have a gift that will help you get that payment." He led Jim down a long tunnel, in the opposite direction of the two chambers with the containers. After several minutes of fast walking, they arrived at yet another dark chamber, only a blast door did not seal this one. In fact, it was the central chamber of the cave, and not an antechamber like the others. There was a lever on the far wall. Aren raised his hand and made a gesture. The lever flipped up as if a hand had moved it. Dozens of bright fluorescent lights came on, reflecting light off a massive cluster of crystal formations. It was an underground mineral deposit, a vast one. Jim's was slack-jawed again.

"This...is for me?"

"Well, not all of it. Some of it will belong to another, but only when that person arrives here. And over there," he said, pointing to the wall of the cave, "is a gas vein. With our help, you could easily modify one or more of your refineries to tap directly into the vein."

"The Combine would love this place. This place must have been a gold mine to the Protoss"

"Yes, they would. Too bad they can't have it. Yes, Mojo told me that the loss of the colonies here was a great one, but they managed to get by without it." Aren's face became a bit more serious and he looked over at Jim. "So, what do you think of this place?"

"It's wonderful."

"Would you like to move your base of operations here? That way you know you'll be fairly secure, you'll have tons of resources, not to mention me and my sunny disposition living next door."

"Well, two out of three ain't bad."

"Ooh...I'll get you for that one. So, you're decision?"

"Yeah, why not. It could be fun."

"Excellent! I'll draw up a contract, and all you'll have to do is sign it...do you think you have enough blood to sign a thousand page document?"

"You were right, you are goofier than I am. And from now on, call me Jim."

"Sure thing, and call me Aren."

"Alright Aren."

"Now, I'll take you back to Serajen so you can pack-"

"Aren!" A loud voice yelled in the distance. The two of them turned to see an armored aircar rushing towards them. It came to a halt mere centimeters from the two, and the drive jumped out. He was a young man, with short brown hair.

"Ah, David. Jim Raynor, meet Lieutenant David Aaronson. David, meet Jim Raynor."

"Lieutenant."

"Commander. Aren, they've found something."

"Who has found something?"

"The scientists. They found something in the ruins." Aren's eyes lit up.

"Really? Jim, looks like we're taking a little detour. I hope you don't mind."

"Nah." The three of them got into the aircar, and the lieutenant drove them off. They sped out of the base and down into the valley. "So, where exactly are we going?"

"My crews discovered a Xel'Naga temple buried beneath the planet surface. While it's smaller than the one on Shakuras, it's still pretty big, making us wonder how it got buried."

"Is this one of those things you told me about earlier, about the 'mysteries of the planet'?"

"Yes."

They sat in silence for several more minutes. The wind and the scenery swept past them as the aircar reached high speeds. Jim could not take the silence much longer.

"Tell me about the person you are tracking."

"Ever the inquisitor, aren't you?" David said, still looking out at the direction they were heading.

"Yes, but I asked mainly because I don't like long trips in silence." Aren didn't say a word, but merely nodded. His face took on a slightly grave look. When he spoke, his voice was dark and serious.

"Two years ago, three of our universes most dangerous people escaped from a place called Shagga. Shagga is a hellish realm, a pocket dimension connected to ours by a series of dimensional rifts. We send our worst felons to this place, and each entrance is watched over carefully. Somehow, these three got their hands on a timeship, capable of sending them through both space and time. We tracked the ship to three places, one being here. However, we do not know who stayed behind."

"How do you know someone stayed behind?"

"We were told so by a sensor buoy left here long ago by the Tuatha, a very, very ancient race. They detected the time ship, and, since it was of Tuatha design, scanned the vessel. It detected three lifeforms on board. As the ship left, the buoy scanned it again, as is typical procedure for the Tuatha. This time there were only two lifeforms on board."

"Ah. So, who were they?" Aren lifted up his hand, palm facing up. A fire erupted from the hand, and an image of a man appeared. Jim was slightly taken aback at this, but he quelled the urge to ask another question just yet. The man in the image was around Jim's age, but he had a mad glint in his eye.

"The first was a man named Karl Trefallion. You know his type already Jim, as he and Mengsk have a lot in common. Trefallion is eloquent in his speech and aristocratic in his manner. He is also maniacal, egotistical, and outright insane. While not exceptionally intelligent, what makes him dangerous is the fact that he can sway people to his cause quickly, and these people take zealousness to the extreme as they carry out his orders. Trefallion never knew how to die. Whenever we thought we had killed him, we found out it was merely a clone. Which leads us to the person." The image of Trefallion faded and was replaced by another. This man was a cyborg, and very evil in his appearance. "This is Thalkeron. Created from the genetic material of a Trefallion clone by an insane scientist by the name of Kesser Rabew, Thalkeron is Trefallion multiplied to the nth degree. Faster, stronger, and far more intelligent than Trefallion, Thalkeron was a thorn in the side of the Imperium and its allies. He created a race of xenomorphs that make the Zerg seem like tame house pets. He was finally stopped when his internal reactor was shut down by myself and the Imperiums emperor, Kane." Thalkerons image faded and another image formed. The man in the image, if you could call him a man, looked as if he was evil personified. His hands housed sharp claws and his eyes glowed a deep crimson. "The third and final man we are looking for is by far the most dangerous. His name is Mordigar, and in our universe he was considered a demigod. He had the power to destroy entire worlds with a flick of his wrist, he could murder millions of beings with a thought. He led a race of genetically altered Humans called the Acheron. They had immense power, and their fleets were strong. They decimated entire worlds and wiped out entire civilizations before they were stopped. Their final target was Earth, and we failed to stop them before they turned it into a radioactive wasteland. Mordigar was finally stopped by Kane during a battle on the Acheron homeworld. In any other situation, Mordigar would not be a problem because both Michael, my XO, and I are stronger than he is. However, we are cut off from two thirds of our power. If he is the one that stayed behind, then we are in serious trouble." The image disappeared and the fire on Aren's palm went out.

"Demigods. Now I'm dealing with demigods. The universe doesn't like me very much." David laughed, something that was needed at the moment.

"Commander Raynor, you'll find out that the universe has a very wry sense of humor, and it that likes playing with us little people."

"And I take being called a 'demigod' as an offense Jim," Aren said, the dark edge now gone from his voice. "I never have, nor will I ever, consider myself a godly being in any way, shape, or form."

"Okay, fine, I'll stop with the demigod thing. You mentioned something called the Imperium, what is it?"

"Like the Draconis Alliance, the Imperium is an alliance of many worlds. Unlike the Draconis Alliance, the Imperium is far more utopian. The Imperium and its allies, of which the Draconis Alliance is the strongest, control half of the known universe. The other half is either lifeless or filled with our enemies. Which there are a lot of I might add. I am a Sovereign Protector of the Imperium. It is my duty to uphold its laws and defend its people."

"You people come from an interesting place."

"Yes, we do. Sometimes, though, I wish for a more simpler place to live. It is far too complicated back home, almost to the point where I hardly know what's going on anymore. You wouldn't believe how boring the life of an immortal is."

"We're here." David said, once again interrupting the moment and bringing relief. Jim looked up and gasped.

Before them was a massive stone statue, imbedded in the side of a mountain. Next to it was another stature, and between them was an opening. The oddest thing though, was the statues themselves. They had no faces, whether they were blown away by nature or if they ever had faces in the first place could not be told. Each stature held a long staff in its four arms. The opening itself looked like a temple entrance, and it had a long stairway leading to it. At the base of these statues were a number of buildings. The aircar slowly entered the makeshift village. For the first time, Jim saw diversity in the Draconis Alliance.

Standing next to Human scientists were tall, extremely thin, pale skinned technicians with dark visors covering their eyes. There were also Tall, thickly built reptilian aliens with shiny skin ordering around bear-like soldiers carrying equipment from place to place. And he could see others, but at the distance they were at, he could not make out their features well.

"Whoa."

"Is that to the temple or the Alliance personnel?"

"Both. Who are these people? I mean, what are they?"

"Those technicians with the visors are Novalden. While they are brilliant scientists and capable officers, they don't see much frontline action during a fight. Which neither the Alliance High Command or the Novalden people mind very much. Their eyes are very sensitive to light, hence the visors. The big guys with that look like reptiles are Latorians. They are silicon-based lifeforms, not carbon based lifeforms like you and me. They're home is a very hot world, averaging around two hundred degrees Celsius at noontime. A tough race, they can take multiple blaster shots to their body before their thick hide is pierced. Finally, those poor shmoes the Latorians are ordering around are Krekh'Chor. Physically the strongest race in the Alliance, the Krekh'Chor are on of its founding members. Three of my ships, the _Nova Fire_ and the two destroyers that share its design, were designed and built by the Krekh'Chor. Here you see the four major star powers of the Draconis Alliance. I believe there are also some Katari and Shienaran scientists here as well. Those two races are extremely intelligent and are the Alliances best researchers."

"Any others I should know about?"

"No. While the Draconis Alliance is made up of thousands of worlds and hundreds of different races, only a fraction of them supply troops for the Alliance military. Those that don't supply troops have their own militaries and only look to the Alliance for help when they really need it. Since that system has worked for over ten thousand years, we're not really in the mood to change it." A small, imp-like creature approached them. Around four feet tall, it had red-blue skin, a pointed face with sharp teeth sticking from its mouth, and small, stubby wings.

"Greetings, greetings Major Hale. You have come to see the discovery?" It said in a raspy voice.

"Yes. Dr. Sorl, meet Jim Raynor. Jim, this is Dr. Sorl, a Shienaran scientist that specializes in xenoarchaeology."

"A pleasure to meet you...what was your name again? Raymond?"

"Raynor."

"Ah. Well, come, come, this way." He leapt away and Aren and Jim followed. David stayed behind with the aircar. Jim looked at Aren.

"I thought you said all your people knew who I was?"

"Let me correct myself. Those that have some clue about the outside world and its events know who you are. See, I'll show you what I mean." He tapped Sorl on the shoulder. "Doctor, how long have you been working on this project?"

"Only a couple of months. We've made great progress in such little time, it is astounding."

"A couple of months eh? Try thirty-six."

"Two whole years?! Odd, I didn't think it was that long." A Shienaran year, unlike the one used by many Humans, was eighteen months long.

Grinning, Aren and Jim followed the diminutive scientist up that stairs and into the temple. There were more of his people in there, as well as tall, multi-jointed blue skinned aliens. They were Katari.

"Put these on." Sorl said, pointing to some environmental suits laying on a table.

"What are these for?" Jim asked.

"We don't want to disturb the inner chambers of this temple Jim," Aren answered. "So we use teleporters to get us down into the temple. The air down there is very stale, and hazardous to Human lungs."

"Except yours."

"Except mine, yes. I still wear the suit though." He grabbed a suit and put it on. He looked over at Jim, who was giving the suits a dubious look. "Don't worry, one size fits all. You'll see what I mean when you put on one."

Jim grabbed the dull gray suit, which seemed ten sizes larger than he was, and began to pull it on. As he did so, he felt the suit begin to change shape. Looking down, he saw that it was almost molding itself to his shape. After he pulled the rest of the suit on, it was completely skin tight.

"Now press the little green button on the belt. Hold it down until you feel comfortable in the suit." Jim pressed the button and the suit ballooned outward. Once he felt that it was a comfortable fit, he took his finger off the belt.

"Heh...could I get some of these things? I have some crew that would prefer these things to SCV's while doing space walks."

"I'll see what I can do." Aren turned to the imp-like scientist. "Alright Doc, lead the way." With his vestigial wings twitching, the Shienaran researcher led them through corridors that had the distinctive markings of the Protoss. There were small khaydarin crystals imbedded in the walls, each crystal giving off a light with which they could see. There was also the telltale gold colored metal used by the Protoss at every archway. These markings soon gave way to ones far more ancient, markings that Jim had seen only once before, on the Dark Templar homeworld of Shakuras.

"We've just entered the Xel'Naga temple, haven't we?" Sorl looked up, giving the commander a wide, toothy grin.

"Yes, yes. So you know of Xel'Naga architecture and glyphs?"

"No, but I have seen them before. I know that, while similar to Protoss runes and glyphs, Xel'Naga writing is quite different." Dr. Sorl nodded his pointed head and bounded ahead of them. Jim looked over at Aren and smirked. "Never agree to sit in on a Shelak Tribe meeting. They become very boring after awhile. I was told that I fell asleep." Aren let out a burst of laughter as they continued on.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking, although it was really only minutes of walking, they arrived at a large chamber, with a metallic disk set up at the center.

"Your teleporter I assume?"

"Got it in one, Commander Raynor." Sorl beckoned them over to him.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, come, come. We must be going. The gods only know what I am missing by being away from my work." Shaking their heads, the two of them walked forward and stepped onto the teleporter.

With a flash of red light, they found themselves inside a small antechamber. There were already some Shienarans in there, and only a single Katari. At the center of this room there was a pedestal, which glowed with the familiar glow of a khaydarin crystal.

"Tell me doctor, what type of discovery did you make?"

"We found a message."

"A message? What type, written or recorded?"

"Recorded. However, both the recording device and the datadisk were quite damaged. We do not know exactly how much information we were able to extract."

"I see." The Katari bowed to them as they approached. It opened its mouth and a faint screeching noise emerged. The translator strapped to his throat flashed whenever it translated the Katari language into Basic.

"We are glad you could come Major Hale. We are exited at this discovery. Now that you are here, we can view it." The Katari reached out to the pedestal and pressed a few of the images in a sequence. The pedestal came to life, and an image of a Protoss appeared. The Protoss was wearing long robes, its hood had fallen back to reveal a scarred face. Jim gasped.

"It's a Judicator elder, a member of the Conclave!" Before anyone could respond, the message began. It was slightly garbled, and they could tell that the message did not truly begin there.

"_...attacked us with great ferocity. Although we were able to stave off its attack at first, we quickly lost our ground as the fight continued. This...thing had immense power, far greater than any of our people have ever possessed. It was able to shoot energy beams from its arms, and it deflected our psionic attacks like they were nothing. As the last of our warriors fell, only four Judicator remained, and, as the youngest among them, I was ordered to flea to this sanctum, to record what I saw. As I ran, I heard a loud explosion behind me. When I turned, I saw nothing but a massive cloud of smoke and fire rising from where our settlement once stood. It spoke its name to us before it attacked. It said its n-"_ The message ended in static and the image flickered and died. Aren bowed his head and sighed deeply, and it sounded like a sigh of defeat.

"Things have become much more difficult. Much, much more difficult."


	4. A Cry for Help

Sic Semper Tyranus

Chapter 3: A Cry for Help

By: Duneczan

****

PLANET ANTAER, PROTOSS SPACE

They exited the temple in silence. After viewing the record, Aren turned and left the chamber without a word. Jim thanked the diminutive scientist and followed after him. Aren walked with an inhuman speed as he went down the long stairs that led to the research camp. It was now lit by bright lamps, and Jim was surprised to see how quickly night had fallen. Waiting there at the edge of the camp was Lieutenant Aaronson. He looked up with a jovial smirk on his face and waved.

"Find anything interesting?" He asked. When Aren did not respond, the lieutenant looked at Jim. The rebel leader merely shook his head and shrugged. They climbed into the aircar and headed back to the base. The trip was made in complete silence.

After a depressing twenty minutes, the aircar was moving through the Alliance base and came to a stop beneath the towering garrison. Aren climbed out and looked at his companions.

"Jim, it's late and I suddenly feel more tired than I have ever felt in my life. I hope you don't mind staying here until your people arrive. Michael will lead them here safely, so don't worry."

"That's fine Aren, but I was wondering-"

"Good. David, find the commander an empty room in the garrison." Without so much as a 'goodnight', Aren turned and walked up the long ramp leading to the garrison. David looked quizzically at Jim.

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say Aren looked into the mystery of this planet and did not like what he saw." The lieutenant thought this over for a second and nodded.

"Well, I'm sure he'll work it out. He always has. Now, let's find you a place to rest. We have a lovely guest suite that has an excellent view of the motor pool..." He continued rambling on to lighten the nights mood. Unfortunately, reality would see fit to conspire against them.

Only an hour into his sleep, Aren was rudely awaked by the wallcomm. Slapping the response button irritably, he answered.

"Go."

"TacCom here, sir. Sorry to disturb your sleep, but we have received a distress call from Dylar IV."

"I'll be right there. You might as well wake up Commander Raynor, he may want to be involved in this."

"Yes sir, as ordered sir." The com blinked off. Aren stood up and quickly dressed, then rushed out of his quarters. He arrived in the control room just as Jim was being ushered in. The rebel leader looked a little groggy.

"Wassit?" He asked, still sleepy.

"Distress call." This woke Jim up.

"Not-"

"No, not your people." He turned to the Novalden sitting in the control booth. "Let's see it lieutenant."

"Not 'see', sir, just hear. It's in audio only."

"Very well, play it then." The speakers erupted in static, which was quickly replaced by a woman's voice.

"_This is Captain Elizabeth DuGalle of the UED Remnant on Dylar IV to Major Aren Hale of the Draconis Alliance. Our patrols have spotted a large Protoss fleet heading our way. This force is large, larger than my entire defensive fleet. Major, I know we have not exactly been on the best of terms since you first contacted me, but I ask that you place any animosity aside and send assistance. According to the markings on the vessels, they belong to a renegade Protoss faction led by a dark templar. Their estimated time of arrival is 1200 hours, Dylarian Standard Time. Please, if you hear this, send help."_

"Renegade dark templar?" Jim asked. "It couldn't be Ulrezaj, could it?"

"Do you know of any other renegade dark templar?"

"Well...no."

"Then is has to be Ulrezaj, or else we're both out of the loop." Aren looked at the Novalden officer. "What's the time there now?"

"1145 hours sir."

"Great. Get me Major Powell, please."

"On it, sir." Aren looked back at Jim.

"What do you know of Ulrezaj?"

"Other than he's one mean son of a bitch that has no love for the non-Shakurian Protoss, not much. I do know that he's an archon now, not a templar."

"Well, you're half right. What you don't know is that he's the only Protoss ever to transform into an archon without the help of another templar."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning he's not normal. Someone's helped him along."

"And you think your friends from Shagga have something to do with that?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to think that Karl Trefallion is not the one that stayed behind. If Ulrezaj was given this ability by someone, and it just happened to be one of the fugitives, only Thalkeron and Mordigar would have that power."

"Oh, well that's just perfect then, ain't it? As if we weren't screwed in the first place, now I hear that some super-powerful fiend from an alternate universe is playing god."

"That's about the size of it." They waited a few more minutes before the Alliance's second in command responded to Aren's call. The blonde man's image appeared on the large main screen.

"You called, Aren?"

"Yeah. How long until you are ready to get back here, Michael?"

"We're almost done here. The command center is the last building that needs to be taken down, and its already down to its frame. Why?"

"Our friends from the UED seem to have angered Ulrezaj. He's sent what may be a large force against them."

"I see."

"The second you are done there, I want you here PDQ. That means we risk using a conduit."

"If our enemy didn't know we were here, he'll sure as hell know we are now."

"I know, but it's a risk we should always be willing to take."

"True. I'll see if I can get Calhoun to hurry it up. I don't think I've bothered him for ten minutes, so I'm overdue. I'll see you when I see you." Michael's image disappeared and the screen reverted to its normal tactical display of the base. Aren ran his hands through his hair and blew out a breath.

"Well, so much for rest." Jim nodded.

"Yeah, and I really need it too."

"We've got some great coffee here. We'll get some and head back to the _Challenger_. We'll be sitting in orbit by the time they get here."

Twelve minutes later, a wormhole appeared above Antaer. The wormhole proceeded to disgorge over a dozen capital ships a hundred smaller vessels. The last ship to appear was Aren's flagship, the _Nova Fire_. Swiftly guiding his small ship into the larger destroyer's belly, Aren landed the _Challenger_ in the _Nova Fire_'s landing bay. Michael was waiting for them. He waved to the two of them, and guided them to the small briefing room in the bay. The three of them walked briskly.

"I took the liberty of contacting the commanders of the other ships. They and Commander Raynor's XO are on open channels waiting for you."

"Good. We're definitely pressed for time." Aren entered the room first, and his five commanders saluted. When Jim entered, he looked from screen to screen, seeing the faces of the other Alliance commanders that have helped his people. There were two Novalden, a Human, a Latorian, and a Krekh'Chor. Aren quickly introduced them all.

"Commanders and Captains, this is Jim Raynor and Nathaniel Calhoun. Jim, Mr. Calhoun, I'd like to introduce Commanders Triosh, Varga, and Nensir, and Captains Arat'ven and Nielson. Normally we'd have a formal introduction, but time is of the essence here. The UED Expeditionary Fleet that was sent to this sector nearly a year ago was all but wiped out. The remnants of this fleet, led by the niece of the late Admiral Gerard DuGalle, has been holed up on Dylar IV since that time. While she started out with an eight of the UED fleet, that number has been whittle down to only six operational battlecruisers, two carriers, and a few dozen support ships. The way they have defended themselves has ensured them an excellent position for survival. However, they are now threatened by an overwhelming number of enemy vessels and will surely be defeated without help. We are that help. We will be facing Protoss vessels, so this will be a tough fight."

"Wait, how do we know that the Protoss are our enemies?" Commander Triosh, a Latorian, asked.

"Because ever since the so-called 'Omega Incident', the Dominion, the UED Remnant, and the Protoss Survivors have all agreed to a non-aggression pact. Neither side is really in any condition to attack the other, especially with Kerrigan staring at them from her lair on Tarsonis. Also, we have had a very shaky non-aggression pact with the UED, so the least we can do is go there and try to help the survivors. However, it is believed that this fleet belongs to the renegade dark templar, Ulrezaj." Murmurs answered this final statement. The commanders all nodded. Captain Arat'ven, the only Krekh'Chor among them, was the first to respond.

"So what's the game plan?" He growled.

"Simple. First we're sending in a scout drone, just to see who we're dealing with. If it's destroyed once it announces its presence, then we go in and hit them hard. However, there is one thing I need to emphasize. Many of the Protoss serving Ulrezaj are doing so against their will. So your orders are to disable their ships not destroy them. Only do that if the Protoss go on a suicide run."

"And these orders are for our pilots as well?" Varga, a Novalden, asked.

"Yes. You will brief your pilots while en route. Have your navigators set course for Dylar III. We'll be using a trans-hyperjump conduit, so the trip will take fifteen minutes. See to it gentlemen, dismissed." The five commanders signed off, leaving only the former magistrate on-line.

"And exactly what are we supposed to do?" He asked. Before Aren could say anything, Jim spoke up.

"You are going down to the planet and setting up our base. I'm going with them."

"But-"

"Nate, please listen to me. There are things happening here that are far beyond our comprehension, yet we are in the middle of it. I know you are apprehensive about trusting these people, but I am not. So-" Nathan put up a hand.

"Jim, shut up for a second. Any mistrust I had for the Draconis Alliance went away during the short time I spent with them on Serajen. I saw how easily they wiped out the Zerg there, so I knew that they could have done so with us as well. When the major took you away, I thought they would do just that. Imagine my surprise when they started helping us instead of bombing us into oblivion. The Alliance I can trust, its the UED that I don't."

"Well, I can't fault you for that Nate." Aren interrupted them.

"As I said, we have very little time here. Mr. Calhoun, you have my word that no harm will come of the commander here."

"I guess I can accept that. One more thing."

"Yes?"

"Could you tell the people down on the planet not to shoot at us while we're coming down?"

"Yeah, sure." The rebel lieutenant nodded, saluted his commander, and signed off. Aren went to the briefing room wall and hit the comm. "Lieutenant Chase, set course for Dylar III. Open a conduit and get us out of here quick."

"As ordered Aren."

"Michael, you brief the pilots. Jim, if you'll come with me, we'll head to the bridge." Michael walked out of the doorway at the back of the briefing room. The doorway opened into a corridor which led to the pilots briefing chamber. Aren guided Jim out of the room and headed towards the turbolift. Entering his command code so that the turbolift made no stops on the way to the bridge, Aren said the word 'bridge' to the computer. The lift began moving up.

"Do you think we'll be able to save them, Aren?"

"I hope so Jim. Despite what the UED may have done in the past, we must never forget that they are Human. They share our blood, our homeworld. No matter how much evil they may have caused, we should always take care of our own."

"Not too many Humans believe that Aren."

"I know. The majority of humanity is indifferent. They care for nothing in the outside world until it is too late."

"I can see this happened where you come from as well."

"Yes, it has. Someday I'll tell you about the Sovereign Republic of Humanity, and how Earth, and humanity as a whole, became one of the most influential races in the known universe, during its rule."

"Yeah, that would be nice. Have it wait until we aren't about to go into a bloodbath though."

"Sure thing." The turbolift came to a stop at the bridge. The armored doors slid open and they walked onto the perpetually dark bridge. With this low light, even the highly sensitive eyes of the Novalden did not need the protection of the dark visors. There were a few Novalden scattered across the two-tiered bridge. There was also one sitting at the tactical station, next to someone unexpected. "David, what are you doing here? I thought we left you on the planet?"

"You did. Just like you did the last time. You're not leaving me behind again."

"Fine. I just hope your skills haven't dulled," Aren said, a broad grin on his face. Jim looked between the two. _That David seems to be the only carefree one on this crew. That may explain why he's so important to these people._

_You got that right Jim_, Aren said telepathically. _Try not to broadcast your thoughts though. There are psis on board that are very sensitive to loose thoughts._

"I'll remember that." Aren sat down in his command chair. He motioned for Jim to take a seat. Seeing an empty spot near the tactical station, Jim sat down.

The stars outside the main viewport disappeared as a vortex of bright silver, blue, and purple hues came into existence. The young woman at the helm took the controls and guided the destroyer into the vortex. The rest of the fleet followed after the _Nova Fire_.

****

DYLAR SYSTEM, KOPRULU SECTOR

The six Alliance vessels appeared above the third planet in the system. It was a rocky, barren world that could not sustain life without help. For an instant, all seemed quiet, but that was all it was, an instant. Within seconds the hanger bays on the destroyers and cruisers opened, and wave after wave of fighters launched. After them came large and more powerful gunships. These moderately sized, highly maneuverable vessels serve as both offense and defense for the fleet. The bridge of the _Nova Fire_ was as it usually is, ordered chaos. Aren sat in his seat, giving orders in a calm voice. Michael sat next to him, making sure that the orders were followed. Jim sat in the back, taking it all in.

"Fighters, form up by wings. Gunships, move into escort formation around your base ship. Fleet, I want two stacked triangles. _Allegiance_ and _Arrowhead_, you take the upper portion. _Manticore_, _Excalibur_, you take the lower portion. _Corsair_, form up next to the _Nova Fire_ then launch the drone." The sleek, black Arrowhead Cruisers and the dark gray hulled Crusader Destroyers moved into position. The cruiser-carrier _Corsair_ launched the small gray drone, which immediately jumped to lightspeed. The tactical officer on the _Corsair_ was relaying the drones progress to the entire fleet.

"Drone is on course. Reaching hyperspace terminus in five...four...three...two...one. Drone is...gone."

"Gone?" The voice of Commander Nensir asked as it came over the com. 

"Gone. It was destroyed by a Protoss energy weapon the second it dropped out of lightspeed. They're definitely hostile."

"Great," Aren said. "Alright, listen up everyone. We're going in, but do not fire upon arrival. They're may be innocents in our line of fire. All ships, jump!"

As one, the fighters, gunships, and cruisers of the Alliance fleet jumped.

****

PLANET DYLAR IV, DYLAR SYSTEM, KOPRULU SECTOR

The Alliance fleet came out of hyperspace amidst a veritable graveyard. An odd looking graveyard. Even from his seat at the back of the bridge, Jim could tell something strange was going on.

"They're still intact," he said, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and fright. The UED capital ships were dead in space, but they showed no sign of battle damage. Neither did the Valkyrie frigates or the Wraith fighters. Aren turned to Ensign Thon, who's Operations station was designed to figure out such mysteries.

"Report."

"I have no clue sir. Sensors indicate that the ships are completely shutdown, and the crews and pilots are still alive. But there is no sign of what caused it."

"Nothing?"

"There is no residual EM or ion radiation. It's almost like they just shutdown by themselves."

"That's impossible. If that did happen, then we are in some serious trouble, because it means that there's a traitor among the ranks of the UED." Aren's gaze drifted to Lieutenant Aaronson at tactical. "Your turn. Report."

"The Protoss fleet is currently orbiting the planet."

"Huh? Then what fried the drone?"

"I'm picking up some debris consistent with a Protoss, single-use assault drone."

"Our drone was slagged by their drone?"

"It looks like it. Uh-oh." David's board had lit up, illuminating his face.

"What now?"

"They know we're here. Protoss fleet moving on an intercept course. Current distance is five thousand kilometers and closing fast."

"Com, give me fleetwide." Aren waited for the com officer to give the signal before speaking. "Alright, this is it. Remember your orders."

"Holy mother of God." Aren turned to the young tactical officer. David rarely used that language. "I'm reading eighty Corsair assault fighters, one hundred and seventy five Scout heavy fighters, three hundred and eighty four interceptors, six arbiters, ten Sentinel class Carriers and two Bombarder class Supercarriers."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I wish I were." Jim looked at each of the faces he could see. From the numbers that the lieutenant had read off, he knew they were outnumbered. However, the faces of the crew made him feel a little queasy. Fear rode freely on all of them.

"They brought siege ships? Damn. Give me fleetwide again. Attention, as you may have noticed, we are facing a signifcantly large force. I do believe that this is the largest fleet fielded by any Protoss faction since their attack on the Chau Sara colony. Trust in your ship, trust in your wingmen, trust in your friends, and trust in yourself. We can and we will win. Cruisers, help the fighters with the scouts and corsairs. _Corsair_, take out the arbiters. Destroyers, we're going after the carriers. Remember, those supercarriers are bigger than their smaller cousins, and they are armed with torpedo launchers, so expect anti-matter warhead volleys. They may also have found a way to direct their particle-fusion cannons at targets other than planets. All ships, break and attack." The five hundred fighters of the Alliance sped towards the Protoss fighters. The two-kilometer long Arrowhead cruisers plowed forward, the three ion engines flaring as they burned at maximum power. The _Corsair_ and its escort gunships broke away from the rest of the fleet. They moved towards the arbiters hanging behind the rest of the fleet, their scanners constantly at work, searching for any vessels hidden beneath the arbiters cloaking field. The destroyers did not move at all. They did not have to. The carriers were coming to them. On the _Nova Fire_'s bridge, Aren, Jim, and Michael all looked out towards the oncoming ships.

"Looks like their commanders had the same idea," Michael said.

"Yeah. You know, I've never said this to anyone before, but those things are like giant, golden blimps of death," Aren said.

"Is anyone else wondering why ten unarmed carriers are coming at three heavily armed destroyers?" Jim asked. The two commanders looked at him, then at each other.

"You know Aren, he has a point."

"I know. Why do I get this feeling we're in for a really big surprise?" The ten carriers and their two larger cousins moved inexoribly through the swarms of fighters and cruisers, towards the three destroyers. As they came closer, silver specks appeared out of their bulbous front ends. "David?"

"Scanning now. Oh hell..."

"Stop saying 'oh hell' and tell us what you see." Instead of telling them, the lieutenant decided to show them. Sending his tactical data to the computer, he activated the main screen. The main viewport suddenly vanished and was replaced by a monitor as tall as a man and twice as wide. The image on the viewport was a maginified view of the carriers. The image zoomed in twice more until the silver specks gained substance and definite shape. Shaped like a clutching claw with four fingers, the vessel appeared to be highly advanced, and definitely not of Protoss origin. Silence fell on the bridge again, and once again Jim Raynor looked at his companions. Now he wonders if he had indeed made the right decision by joining them on their mission.

"What are they?" He asked.

"Nemesis drones," Aren answered. His voice had taken on the darkness that had filled it back on Antaer, when the immortal had told Jim about the fugitives from Shagga. "Fully sentient machines designed for combat in both space an atmosphere, they are fast, maneuverable, and extremely deadly."

"So they are from your universe?"

"Yes."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that our fugitive is sharing our technological secrets. That does not bode well for us, because our shared enemies may have far more advanced technology than the drones."

"You can handle these drones though, right?" Aren did not immediately answer. He looked back at lieutenant Aaronson.

"How may are there?"

"Forty."

"Hmm...To answer your question, yes, we can handle forty drones. They may be fully sentient, but they aren't very bright. As long as there aren't any more surprises-" The ship suddenly shuddered as something impacted on the shields hard. "...the hell?"

"They've got mass drivers!" David yelled. The ship shuddered again. "Powerful ones!"

"Sit down and buckle up people," Aren ordered. "Guns, take out those damned slugs before they hit us. Communications, order the other two ships to do the same, only make sure they do a better job at it. They're hulls aren't strong enough to repel both mass drivers and anti-matter weapons if the shields fail." Which was true. The _Nova Fire_, like the _Corsair_, used the same technology utilized by the Imperium. The dense quadanium-crystalline hulls of both ships, coupled with the multi-phasic molecular shields favored by the Imperium, made both vessels tough opponents. The _Excalibur_ and the _Manticore_, while far from being run-of-the-mill Alliance destroyers, were not that tough. Modified for use by the Draconis Alliances elite forces, collectively known as the Chorasian Fleet, both destroyers had triple-thick hulls, heavily reinforced armor, and double-shields. None of which would help them if all the Protoss ships focused their firepower on one ship at a time. Something Major Hale would not allow them to do. "Maverick Group, get out there and take out those mass drivers. All you other gunships, keep the drones away from the destroyers. _Manticore_, _Excalibur_, remember your orders. Knock out the carriers' ability to move. If you can, also take out their manufacturing plants. Those damned interceptors are more an annoynace than a threat, but either way they are an inconvenience that we don't need. Helm, we're going after the supercarriers." As the female lieutenant complied, Jim took a chance and stood up. He walked forward towards Aren's seat, and looked down at him from behind.

"Aren, somethings bothering me."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, those...what did you call them? Supercarriers?"

"Yes, that's what we call them, because we have no clue what the Protoss call them. What about them?"

"Well, from what I remember, instead of unmanned drones, they carry powerful bombers that can target planets and other ships. Why aren't we seeing them?"

"Perhaps they replaced them with the Nemesis drones?"

"Or maybe they are using them for someother purpose. There is a UED base down on the planet, remember?" Sudden realization spread across Aren's face.

"Oh hell. Get the _Corsair_ on the line!" The face of a Latorian appeared on the small screen attached to Aren's command chair.

"Nensir here Major, go ahead."

"Nensir, how are you doing?" The reptillian commander look at the major quizzically.

"Fine, sir. Why do you ask?"

"Because I have this sinking feeling our friends on the planet are going to be pounded by bombers."

"I see. And you'd like us to assist?"

"You are closer to the planet than we are, and your bombers can intercept the Protoss bombers. Get them launched."

"Hortoth Group has been on stand-by since we began this op. I'll get them sent out the second you stop bothering me." The Latorian commander gave Aren a toothy grin at his joke.

"Funny. Send'em out now. Hale out." Aren pressed the green button on his comm pad and ended the call. He turned his attention to the control board in front of his seat. "David, give me control of the lasers." The human officer nodded and typed a command into his console. Lights lit up on Aren's console, and a monitor came to life. As this happened, the exterior of the destroyer changed. Four panel slid open and four turrets rose from the hull. The twin barreled weapons went through a series of rotations, and eventually faced the two supercarriers. On Aren's monitor a set of brackets came into being. Using a small wheel-ball set into the console, Aren guided the bracket onto one of the siege ships engine pods and locked in in place. The four turrets followed the target. As the _Nova Fire_'s pulse lasers and energy cannons assaulted the two larger carriers, the interior of the eight barrels glowed red as the weapons charged. The light grew brighter and brighter until Aren's board indicated that they were at full charge. Pressing the trigger, Aren fired. Eight beams of meter thick, bright red energy lanced out and struck the aft of the supercarrier. With surgical precision, the particle lasers penetrated shields and sliced into the carriers golden hull, cutting into the easily damaged engines. The beams dissipated before they reached the ships reactor. Three engines sputtered out, the blue glow dying quickly. Aren began targeting the next carrier, preparing to continue his attack.

Meanwhile, the six gunships of Maverick Group were weaving in and out of the other carriers, trying to take out the powerful accelerators. Like the _Nova Fire_, Maverick Group was made up of ships modified by advanced Imperium technology. It shares the same advancements as Cronus Wing, the seventy two fighters assigned to the flagship. However, they were having a tough time attacking the carriers new weapons.

"Dammit!" The commander of the lead gunship cursed. "They're also using our shield technology to protect those guns."

"If that's so, then why not just use our shields to protect the carriers themselves?" Came the voice of one of the other gunship commanders. All six gunships were using open comms, allowing the crews to work more efficiently together.

"Perhaps Ulrezaj doesn't want to be tainted by our technology?" Said another commander.

"Or maybe our wonderful criminal is being stingy with what secrets he shares. It doesn't really matter, we were ordered to neuter these guys, and that's what we'll do. Everyone form up on us. Gunners, I want a volley of torpedoes on may mark." The rest of Maverick Group formed up on their leader, and soon two delta formations were heading towards the near kilometer long weapons mounted on the insides of the carriers. "Fire." Four blue projectiles emerged from each of the gunships. The first twelve struck the shields protecting the mass drivers, collapsing them in conflagration of energy. The second half of the volley slammed into the duranium barrel, melting and bending it. Pulse laser blasts finished off the attack. As th accelerator exploded, the gunships veered away from the blast. Moving at maximum speed, he hugged the walls of the carrier, using the Protoss capital ships own shields to help protect them.

"Well that was easy," one of the gunners commented, his tone full of sarcasm. "We'll run out of torpedoes and missiles before this job is done."

"we're armed with more than just torpedoes and missiles. And if we need it, once the guys from the _Excalibur_ and the _Manticore_ are done with the Nemesis drones, we can ask them for help."

"I hate asking for help." The gunships dove for another assault.

The Arrowhead Cruisers sent sheet after sheet of deadly energy towards the incoming swarms of fighters. The golden Protoss fighters and interceptors has some distinct advantages over their Alliance counterparts. The larger fighters had firepower on their side, while the small, unmanned interceptors could run rings around the less agile Alliance fighters. For their part, the Alliance ships has far better armor and shields, especially Cronus Wing off the _Nova Fire_. As the two groups of fighters collided, space became filled with pulses of red, blue, yellow, and red as they fired upon each other. Unfortunately for the Alliance pilots, the Protoss pilots were _not_ ordered to disable only. Also unfortunate for the Alliance was the fact that the Protoss scouts and corsairs were at the back of the formation.

"I have a suggestion," one of the pilots from the _Manticore_'s Defender Wing said over the comm.

"And what's that pilot?" The commander of Cronus Wing asked.

"Let the cruisers handle the...hold on," The pilot stopped talking for a second as she guided her Avenger behind an interceptor and blew it to hell. "Sorry. I say we let the cruisers handle these drones and we go after the _actual_ fighters."

"Well, we also have to worry about leaving the cruisers undefended. They and their escorts may be able to handle most of these drones, but not all of them."

"Alright, alright." The pilot shut up and continued to do her job. The commander of Cronus Wing sat in his fighter and sighed.

"Kids," he said in defeat.

The battle in space lasted for what seemed like eternity. Spread across a large area of the planetary region, the fight between the Protoss and the Draconis Alliance was hard on both sides. Eventually though, the Alliance began to take the upper hand. Except for the fight with the carriers. Both of the larger destroyers were forced to fall back as the crippled but not disarmed supercarriers managed to collapse their shields and strike the hull with multiple volleys of anti-matter torpedoes. That left the _Nova Fire_ and Maverick Group to continue the fight. The other two groups of gunships had fallen back with their charges. The ten smaller carriers had been disabled, a task that Maverick Group was really proud of. Another accomplishment was the burning supercarrier that had been the flagships first target. However, while the first supercarrier was being attacked, its twin had gone after the _Nova Fire_.

"I really hate tag-teams," Aren commented as another salvo hit his destroyer. As tough as the _Nova Fire_ was, it couldn't take too many more hits.

"Shields in the lower quadrant are failing. Upper shields are gone, and armor integrity is now at sixty-two percent," Lieutenant Aaronson said from his post.

"Great. How're the Mavericks doing?"

"Dodging torpedoes and trying not to get fragged," Michael replied. "The _Arrowhead_ and the _Allegiance_ are now heading back to us. ETA is six minutes."

"Here that girl? Six minutes. Hold out that long and I promise you a new coat of paint and a complete overhaul." Suddenly a bright orange ball of fire struck the attacking carrier. Two more followed immediately after that. The supercarrier's shields failed and its hull buckled as the yamato blasts hit. Waves of energy rippled across the carriers hull, lightning began to spark as the energy contained within the reactor overloaded. The Protoss supercarrier exploded with a great force, the shockwave slamming into the _Nova Fire_, causing it to rock. Four wraiths flew by the viewport, waggling their wings in respect. The UED fleet was back in operation. The face of a battle-scarred captain appeared on Aren's miniscreen.

"Ah, greetings Major Hale. I have heard many things about you, and I am glad to see that none of it is false. Thank you for keeping those Protoss off our backs."

"Glad to ablige captain, unfortunately that's not the case. They didn't seem to interested in you or your ships. By the time we arrived, the Protoss had moved on to the planet and left you in the dust."

"Really? That is strange. Well, no matter, we are back in command of our ships and are ready to assist you."

"That won't be necessary captain. I made sure my people disabled the Protoss vessels, not destroy them, and I would not like you to do it either. Of course, I cannot give you orders."

"Well, I have been told that you are someone to be listened to in times of crisis, so I will do what you ask, as long as you tell me why."

"Simple. If the Protoss forces attacking you do belong to Ulrezaj, than many of them may be under his control. Would you want to kill people that have no choice in what they are doing?"

"No, I would not. I will order my fighters to assist you in destroying the drone interceptors. Do you require any other assistance?"

"You have any docks free on those shipyards your hiding on the dark side of the moon?" The UED captains face contorted. He seemed to mull over Aren's words. After a moment, he nodded.

"Yes, I believe we do. However, that is a decision that must go through Captain DuGalle."

"Then please ask her. We shouldn't take up the docks for long, our ships are fairly easy to repair."

"Very well Major Hale. Again, thank you for your assistance." The captain saluted, and disappeared from the screen. Aren slumped back into his seat.

"Stand down from red alert, but stay at yellow alert. Have all ships report in and give me a damage report." Aren brought his hand to his forehead and wiped it clean of sweat. He stared out the viewport, looking at the wreckage of the supercarrier floating before him. The bridge rumbled for an instant, and one of the massive Behemoth Battlecruisers flew past, a mere hundred meters away. It was close enough for Aren to read the writing on the side of the vessel. It read _Aleksander_. _So, she finally got it repaired_. He stood up and headed towards his office at the right of the bridge. "Michael, Jim, come with me. Andrenov-no, Sergei's back on Antaer. Bekka, you have thr bridge." The woman at the helm merely waved her hand. She was busy trying not to collide with the remains of the carrier. Aren walked into his office.

Michael and Jim stepped into the room. As he entered at the Sovereign Protectors office, Jim didn't know what to expect. He was impressed with what he saw. At the back of the office, near the hatchway that Jim had walked through, was a large painting that filled the wall. The image in the painting itself was impressive. It showed a large palace built into a rolling, green mountainside. The blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds. And in the sky were large, winged reptiles, reminding Jim of the mighty dragons of Earth legend. On the side wall was another painting, this one showing a green, winged starship flying in front of what looked like a shockwave. Across from that were two tables. On one was a replica of the same green starship. The second table held replica of another starship, this one was a silver, pointed craft. Jim wondered if these were both former vessels commanded by Aren. The final piece of decoration was a crest, the kind given to military units. The large seal was a meter in diamter, with a silver border and a nightblue background. The center of the seal was filled by a large, silver dragon. The dragon seemed to be holding an eight pointed star that shined, even in the offices dim lighting. Then Jim noticed the writing on the silver border. The writing was a metallic black, and written in a language Jim had only seen on rare occasions, and mainly in some politicians office.

"Sic Semper Tyranus," Jim said.

"What?"

"Your seal, Aren. It says 'Sic Semper Tyranus.' I'm assuming that's your ships motto?"

"Well, its the motto of the fleet that I command. The dragon represents the Draconis Alliance, the star represents my fleets name, Nova Fleet. And the writing around it is our motto, our creed, our mantra. Sic Semper Tyranus, death to all tyrants. First written by a madman about to kill one of the greatest Humans in history, it is now used by us in our mission to hunt down tyrants and free those they oppress. It's something I take seriously, something we all take seriously." Aren sat back in his chair, looking older than he had before. "The Nemesis drones and the mass drivers change many things. It means that either Mordigar or Thalkeron are sharing our universes technology with the enemy. Let us pray that technology is all they share."

"Fortunately, Aren, that's not something we really need to worry about. The Protoss, while being on par with the Alliance technologically, have not truly utilized that technology to create a powerful war machine. Our two 'friends' will only share enough technology with the Protoss, or to whomever decides to side with them, only to the extent where they gain an edge over us," Michael said.

"How so?" Jim asked. Despite the situation, he was finding the conversation interesting. The more he learned about the Alliance and its allies and enemies, the more prepared he would be for the future.

"Simple. If you give your pawns too much power, they will eventually turn against you, or seek to become masters themselves. That is the failing of evil, it eventually turns in upon itself and destroys itself. So, our fugitive will only share what technology is necessary to either overcome us, or bring us to a stalemate. Hence the appearance of the drones. I've seen enough in this galaxy to realize that there is sufficient materials to construct fleets of Nemesis warships. In order to build such a fleet, one would need to increase the intelligence level of the Nemesis Hive," Michael answered. Aren continued Michael's explanation. Somehow Michaels words seemed to have lightened Aren's mood. _Perhaps Aren has had many bad experiences in his past, where he has underestimated his opponents and lost something great_, Jim thought. _Maybe Michael is, in his own way, telling Aren that there is no reason to hate oneself for underestimating an enemy. And in doing so brings about some sort of calm in him_.

"And doing so would only give the Nemesis a chance to become independent once more. Fortunately, neither Thalkeron nor Mordigar would want that. The Nemesis are like the Zerg, Jim. Once they reach a certain point, they evolve to the next level and grow in intelligence. As their knowledge grows, so grows their need to become independent. Keeping the Nemesis at drone level reduces the chance of that happening. It also increases our chance of survival."

"Aren, although my experiences to not even begin to match yours," Jim said, "I can tell you that I have been fooled by the enemy countless times and have managed to get back on my feet quickly. Now that you know that your criminal has shared technology, you can now be no longer surprised by such things. Besides, you know how these criminals think. You know how the technology works. Use your own knowledge to your advantage." Michael beamed at the Human rebel.

"I do believe the Protoss have rubbed off on you Jim Raynor. Or perhaps not. Did they replace your brain with some sort of construct that replicates your brain waves and memories, but it's really just a highly advanced computer programmed with some long dead Templars thoughts and feelings?"

"I'm sure Major Powell. It's really just a combination of what I have learned from various military commanders over the years, and common sense."

"Something Aren lacks, I'd say. And call me Michael, Commander Raynor. I hate the rank thing. It's annoying. I'll call you Jim, just because I can and Aren does."

"I've always preferred to refer to my friends by their first names. I save ranks and other names for those I hate or have just met." Aren seemed like he was about to say something in response, but he was interrupted by Lieutenant Chase's perky voice.

"Aren, we got a call from Captain DuGalle. Want me to patch it through, or do you want to come out here?"

"Patch it through please, Bekka." A blank section of wall, next to the painting with the starship, slid back. Behind it was yet another monitor, which made Jim think that even the toilets on the ship were somehow hidden behind walls. The image of the Alliance seal, a great black dragon holding a world in its two foreclaws, surrounded by twelve stars of many colors, was replaced by a woman's face. _She'd be attractive if she didn't seem so...stiff_, Jim thought as he gazed at her image. Her long, black hair was pulled back in a tight pony-tail. It was so tight that her hair seemed to be plastered to her head, but it did accentuate her facial features. Her face was like chiseled marble, pale and rounded, with slight edges at her chin, nose, and cheekbones. Her most astounding and, Jim had to admit to himself, alluring feature were her eyes. They were shade of green slightly darker than that of the woman he had grown to love, Sarah Kerrigan. Much like Kerrigan's eyes, this woman's eye were filled with the fire of a warrior. The green eyes stared into the hazel eyes of Aren Hale. "Ah, greetings Captain."

"Let's skip the formalities for a moment Major Hale. I thank you for your help here, and I grant you the right to stop by our dry-docks to repair your vessels. However, I would like to ask of you another favor."

"If it is within my power to grant you that favor Captain, I will certainly try."

"Before you showed up, the Protoss landed a sizeable ground force to take our main base. While the fire bases and outposts I had set up stopped the first few waves, the next ones were not so easy. The Protoss are using some sort of new automaton as a replacement for their regular ground forces."

"A new war machine?" Aren asked. He glanced at Michael, and he knew that the other man had the same feeling he did. "Do you have any images of this thing?"

"I do." Captain DuGalle turned her head away from the screen for a moment, and she seemed to shout an order. The three commanders could not hear what she has said, because she had muted the transmission. After a few seconds, she turned back to her monitor and spoke once more. "We are sending you what was recorded earlier." The screen turned to static, and white noise filled the office for a moment. Then a video feed began, and an image of a fierce battle scrawled across the screen.

It suddenly stopped and zoomed in on a shadowy figure, distorted by movement, both its and the camera's. The image began to pixelize and clear up. A definite form replaced the blurred one. It was a three meter tall, dark gray, bipedal machine. It's backwards knees looked like those of the Protoss, as did its large, claw-like hands. Each forearm featured some sort of blaster weapon, which barrel stuck out of the back of the automatons hand. The head of the machine was like a flat clamshell, and it had green eyes that glowed with a dark malevolence previously unheard of in a machine.

"What...the hell...is _that_?!"

"That, Jim, is another Nemesis. It is a warrior, the main part of the Nemesis ground forces. Like the space combat drones, the warrior is sentient but not too bright. It packs heavy firepower and can also attack with those claws if need be." The video was replaced by Captain DuGalle. "Captain, I believe I know what you are going to ask me. Yes, I will send down forces to help reinforce your defenses. I have fought those things before. They are more than a match for your marines. How far away are they?"

"The Protoss army moves at the speed of the reavers they have backing it up. I give them an hour before they reach my main defense line. After that, it's anyone's guess how long we can hold out."

"I'll send down troops immediately captain, you have my word." He reached to a panel on his desk and ended the transmission. He stood up and looked at his colleagues. "We have work to do."


End file.
